Free Data Center Site Selection Checklist
Screen raw land or greenfield candidates for data center development in one session — power, connectivity, land, climate, regulatory, labor, and risk factors, all in one framework.
Choosing a data center site is a market and infrastructure decision as much as a real estate one. Power availability, fiber routes, and utility interconnection timelines are largely fixed by geography and can't be engineered around once land is under contract — which is exactly where a lot of promising deals stall.
This checklist gives CRE investors, developers, and data center site-selection teams a repeatable, 24-point framework across seven categories — power and energy market fundamentals, connectivity and digital infrastructure, land and site characteristics, climate and environmental risk, regulatory and tax posture, labor and logistics, and long-term market viability — to screen a candidate site before land is optioned or a full site study is commissioned.
- ✓ 24 screening items across 7 categories — power, connectivity, land, climate, regulatory, labor, and long-term risk, each with a plain-language note on what to check and why it matters.
- ✓ Built for greenfield and raw-land site selection — a companion to our Conversion Feasibility Checklist for teams evaluating new-build sites rather than existing buildings.
- ✓ Includes visual benchmarks and a site selection process map — a factor-weighting chart, a market cost-index comparison, a power redundancy diagram, and a step-by-step process funnel.
Download the checklist
The full 10-page PDF — all 24 checklist items, benchmark charts and diagrams, and the site selection process map.
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Related resources
- Industrial-to-Data-Center Conversion Feasibility Checklist — screening an existing warehouse or industrial building instead of raw land.
- PUE Calculator — measure your data center's power usage effectiveness.
- Commercial Real Estate Investment Calculator — analyze returns on a CRE investment.
